BLOEMFONTEIN (10 October 2012) – Central Gauteng hit the front at this year’s South African Mid-Amateur Inter-Provincial with a third round victory over neighbours Ekurhuleni at the Schoeman Park in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.
Looking to go one better than their runner-up finish at Humewood, Central Gauteng began their campaign with a solid 7-5 result against Boland in the first round and a comprehensive 10-2 victory against Eastern Province in round two.
Although the Ekurhuleni team took control in the early stages of the morning foursomes, Central pushed in the closing holes to secure a 2½ – 1½ lead. The side held their slender lead to win 6½ – 5½ and take the lead in the log.
Central Gauteng manager Marinus Weiss said both teams were a bit shaken at the start of the match after learning that several members of the Mpumalanga squad were involved in an accident on their way to the golf course.
“It was a traumatic thing to hear so early in the morning and the players were unsettled, because no-one could confirm the extend of the players’ injuries at first,” he said.
“It was difficult to get going and I think the players only started to focus after we heard that although some players suffered cuts and contusions, no-one was seriously injured.”
Weiss described the afternoon singles as “extremely tight”.
“The result really could have gone either way,” he said. “The only match that we won with a large margin was Stephen Johnson’s 5&4 win over Rowan du Preez. The rest of the games were very tight and it came down to our last two players, Steve Williams and Neil Homann.
“Steve was dormie-3, but he lost the 16th to go dormie-2. He executed a brilliant chip at the 17th to win his game 2&1. Meanwhile Neil was 1-up playing the last. He split the fairway with his tee shot and Jan Delport pulled his drive. Jan’s second hit a tree and went out of bounds and he conceded the hole to Neil after his third shot also hit a three.”
Weiss said beating their neighbours was their toughest task to date.
“It was without a doubt our toughest match this week .I have to say that I was incredibly impressed by the spirit with which both teams play. They may be equally competitive, but there was a wonderful spirit and camaraderie on the course.”
Weiss confirmed that team will dedicate their victory to the Mpumalanga team, who was forced to withdraw from the tournament, should Central Gauteng triumph on Friday.
In the other two A-Section matches, defending champions KwaZulu-Natal beat Boland 6½ – 5½ while the Western Province thumped the Eastern Province 8-4.
THIRD ROUND RESULTS
A-Section
Central Gauteng 6.5 vs Ekurhuleni 5.5
Eastern Province 4 vs Western Province 8
KwaZulu-Natal 6.5 vs Boland 5.5
B-Section
Southern Cape 4 vs Free State & Northern Cape 8
Southern Cape 3.5 vs North West 8.5
Free State & Northern Cape 5 vs North West 7
A-SECTION LOG
(Position-Union-Played-Won-Drew-Lost-Points-Games)
1 Central Gauteng (3, 3, 0, 0, 6,23.5)
2 Ekurhuleni (3, 2, 0, 1, 4,21.0)
3 KwaZulu-Natal (3, 2, 0, 1, 4,20.5)
4 Western Province (3, 2, 0, 1, 4,18.0)
5 Boland (3, 0, 0, 3, 0,16.0)
6 Eastern Province (3, 0, 0, 3, 0,9.0)
B-SECTION LOG
(Position-Union-Played-Won-Drew-Lost-Points-Games)
1 Free State & Northern Cape (5, 3, 1, 1, 7,36.0)
2 North West (4, 3, 0, 1, 6,28.5)
3 Border (3, 2, 1, 0, 5,13.5)
4 Mpumalanga (5, 2, 0, 3, 4,22.5)
5 Gauteng North (4, 1, 0, 3, 2,22.0)
6 Southern Cape (4, 1, 0, 3, 2,20.5)
7 Limpopo (3, 1, 0, 2, 2,14.0)
